Veteran advertising executive Louis Carr has been elevated to president of Paramount’s BET channel.
“For nearly four decades, Louis has been instrumental in driving BET’s success and cultural influence,” George Cheeks, Paramount’s head of TV Media, including CBS, wrote in a staff note announcing a leadership switch at the network dedicated to Black culture. “His deep experience and proven track record position him to expertly guide the brand into its next era.”
Carr will succeed Scott M. Mills, who announced Wednesday that he was stepping down after 23 years at the network, including four as chief executive of the BET Media Group.
Mills spearheaded the creation of the BET+ streaming service to expand the reach of the network’s programming as well as the formation of BET Studios, which struck partnerships with such A-list creators as Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones.
Paramount has been restructuring divisions and slicing costs since tech scion David Ellison and his family bought Paramount in August. Ellison and executives representing investment partner RedBird Capital Partners promised Wall Street that it would find more than $2 billion in cost savings, a move that has led to more than 2,000 job cuts this fall.
BET Studios will be folded into the larger CBS Studios division but maintain its own label. The move was designed, in part, to align BET’s projects with other show production within the company “while preserving BET’s unique programming brand and point of view,” Cheeks wrote. Instead of operating as a satellite within Paramount, BET department heads will work more closely with others in Cheek’s division and draw support from shared services such as finance, marketing and research.
Paramount’s new managers have described BET as one of the company’s four pillars of cable programming, along with Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.
Carr, 69, has spent nearly four decades at the network.
“He has generated billions in advertising sales and cultivated partnerships with category-leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, McDonald’s, and Apple,” Cheeks wrote. “His leadership has shaped corporate strategies for global brands, driven innovation, and strengthened BET’s role as an industry leader.”
Carr is based in New York, and will report to Cheeks.
Carr has written two books and served as a board member for the Ad Council, the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS) and American Advertising Federation (AAF). He established the Louis Carr Internship Foundation, placing undergraduate students of color in paid summer internships to help nurture a new generation of leaders.
“BET and its commitment to Black and Brown communities has been my life’s work,” Carr said in a statement. “It’s a privilege to lead the brand to the next level of excellence and impact.”
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